Sir William Waller JP was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War. Elected MP for Andover to the Long Parliament in 1640, Waller relinquished his military positions under the Self-denying Ordinance in 1645. Although deeply religious and a devout Puritan, he belonged to the moderate Presbyterian faction, who opposed the involvement of the New Model Army in politics post 1646. As a result, he was one of the Eleven Members excluded by the army in July 1647, then again by Pride's Purge in December 1648 for refusing to support the Trial of Charles I, and his subsequent execution in January 1649.
Portrait by Cornelius Johnson, c. 1643
Sir Horace Vere; Waller served with him in Venice and Holland
Ralph Hopton, Waller's close friend and opponent
The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point between 1639 and 1653, while around 4% of the total population died from war-related causes. These figures illustrate the widespread impact of the conflict on society, and the bitterness it engendered as a result.
'Cavalier Troops Mustering outside the Guildhall, Exeter' by John Joseph Barker, 1886, from the Royal Albert Memorial Museum's collection
Edward Hyde, later Earl of Clarendon, ca 1643; originally part of the Parliamentary opposition, in 1642 he became Charles' chief advisor
John Pym, who led the opposition to Charles from 1640 until his death in December 1643
Charles' nephew and most talented general, Prince Rupert, popularised during the Victorian era as the archetypal Cavalier